Hi all. I wanted to post this b/c I believe it will help many parents when they take their child out in public. I created a t-shirt for my son to wear when we go to the grocery store or somewhere he might have a freak out in public.

The shirt says "I'm not bad.... I have Autism" and has "AUTISM" written on the back of the shirt between the shoulderbaldes. It really does help to wear it b/c when people give you the ugly look as if we need to spank our child I just turn him around and they can read his shirt.

Although I agree that we get funny looks when Josh (our son) exhibits peculiar behavior, I don't agree with your methods. As parents of special kids we need to educate people one on one about their special needs and behaviors. Your T-shirt sounds like you are acting out of disgust. It's not that people are beligerant, they just don't understand. Part of being an advocate for your child involves educating people about kids with ASD's. Just the way that we ask for tolerence from others when our kids act out, we should offer it in return in the form of some kind words and clarification. People need to understand through friendly discussions, not T shirts. IMHO.

And how do you expect to talk to 2000 people a day when you have a time schedule with grocery store, therapy, and being out and about living you r daily life in time to get home to clean, cook, and out your kids to bed without it being midnight? I assume you are the worker not your wife otherwise you would understand that it is impossible to educate so many people about autism in a 30 minute conversation on how your child acts and what autism is. In my opinoin and many others opinion it is a wonderful way of spreading autism awareness. Otherwise people from afar just look at you in disgust. I'm not in disgust. What kind of comment is that? When a person sees the word autism on the back it may trigger something. Hopefully from seeing that one word it will stick with them and their knowledge will increase on the disorder.

My experience, oddly enough, has been strangers always being kind and helpful. Most people seem to know about autism these days and correctly assume he is, or somethimes they ask just to confirm their guess. I find those who don't know much about autism ask very nice questions for more information. I was prepared for the worst, but people have always been really really nice about it, very helpful, tolerant, understanding.

I guess we live in very different parts of the country. To be Southern Hospitality out here people can really be hurtful. Taking my son to the mall near our home has always been a tragic experience until recently. 4 out of 5 people I would talk to had no clue what autism was and assumed autism was "rain man". That is not true. It's a spectrum I tried to explain and it went nowhere.

Either way when a mom with her children is desperately running through a grocery store trying to keep her autistic child from getting them kicked out as well as handeling her NT child who is upset b/c of the autistic child there is not possible way to sit and chit chat about what autism is. The shirt has been a life saver and has spread awareness. Seeing AUTISM on the shirt helps people understand why the child is acting like he is puts a bug in their head to keep that in mind next time they see another mom with a child acting like the other was. Guess men just don't understand.

I agree the shirts are great tools to educate the public with. I found some at www.iloveachildwithautism.com that are created by other parents and this is how they choose to deal with possible situations in public. We all have our own way of dealing with this and to say we shouldn't "label" our kids when out in public is just one persons opinion and most seem to disagree with him anywa.

Everyone needs to be supportive of our autism parents. We do not have to agree with each other on everything,but we all need someone to talk to, and everyone has ideas and only are trying to help each other out, I personally think that the t-shirts are great if they work for you. I do not have any t-shirts, but my whole family wears the autism awareness bracelets, that you may buy at www.iloveachildwithautism.com (or) www.stitchesforautism.com , or you can even purchase autism gear on e-bay.

I think they are great! If you are in a wheelchair it requires no explanation and nobody will get irritated with you if you don't stand or run around. If you have no arm people wouldn't get mad if you didn't play ball or reach for things or whatever. My son has a disability that is invisible to the naked eye or easily confused with bad behavior and bad parenting. This shirt would work as my son's wheelchair. Great idea!!!!

I also think t-shirts are a great idea. I have many a time explained to people about Arek's behavior. Now i wear a shirt or he does and it helps people understand. I have actually had people stop and ask about the shirt even when Arek was not misbehaving or even around. It is also a means of generating income for support of Autism related actions. I know I am disabled and can use the money from the sale of T-shirts. My favorite is the I love someone with Autism.We also have a few shirts available for sell as well at Autism AwarenessTo each there own. I like to explain to people at random about Autism or Biolar or whatever issue this world we live in is facing at times. The shirt saying I have Bipolar whats your excuse has really made some people listen and not get offended. Others have quickly just turned and walked a different path as far from me as possible just from seeing the shirt. The message on the shirt is what decides the reaction to the shirt. blah blah sorry rambling on...on...and on... Goodnight

Life is challenging enough. We parents should support each other in a respectful way. I have used the shirts from time to time. It depends on the circumstance and the environment we will engage in. My child is a child w/ autism and he also is a child that loves to swim, play and laugh. As parents we need to remember that we are doing what works best for "our" family and to not be so judgemental on what others choose to do. God bless all parents. There is no right or wrong when we are all trying are darnest to do what is best for our children. If the shirts work for you, great! If it is something you choose not to participate in, that is great too!

Another thing I have seen and plan to do soon if I get time is to use a business card or even a post card sized little handout. Not to pass out to every person you see, but without fail almost every time we go somewhere I have to say to at least one person "oh, sorry, he has autism". Not that he misbehaves, but because they will say "hey there buddy, what's your name?" or the like, and he doesn't talk or respond. And often they will admit they know very little about the disorder.

Another thing with the shirts that we plan to do is use them to help strangers or even family that aren't as used to Logan realize that he will NOT respond to verbal commands/prompts... recently we were at a graduation party and while my BIL's MIL had the front door open talking to someone my son got out. He was headed straight for the street and the MIL and the other person outside both were saying "hey Logan, come back. don't go in the street." and such, but of course he doesn't respond at all. Luckily the graduate's boyfriend knows Logan very well and he was nearby and heard them calling his name and he ran and got him. These people KNOW he has autism and still don't get that he won't respond.

Not that we let him run free unsupervised, but this was inside a home and he still got out and I do have other kids to watch when we are at parks, so it would ease my mind a little if he had a shirt that said something about not speaking/following directions, but we don't know for sure how to get that out in something 1-2 words and easy to read in an instant.